In a desire to see the sport grow, this grass root coach has tried to get the US Diving hierarchy to understand that it is turning away coaches. How can that be? These coaches are probably the most important coaches US Diving has. The organization was set up ’’to conduct and promote the sport of diving in such a manner as to stimulate, encourage and appeal to the broadest number of participants….”. How can it do all of that without grass roots coaches?

         What is being discussed here really defines the grass roots part of US Diving. Local pools are the places where divers learn about diving. Ken Sitzberger developed his interest in diving at a local pool with 2 other divers. Gerg Louganis and Ron Marriott did the same. Small local programs were producing high-powered elite divers for this country. Why does US Diving continue to make it unreasonable for these programs to exist? The reality is that these people are being forced to find other things to do.

         Since the 1998 National convention, US Diving has lost a number of grass root coaches. The reason is very simple. US Diving has become too complicated and way too serious for many grass root coaches. What use to be a $50 membership fee has turned into a $300 to $500 or more which is an estimate made by several coaches. The real grass root coach only coaches under US Diving for about six weeks during the summer. $300 to $500 or more is way too steep a price for such a short time. That cost represents membership fees, team fees and the basic certification. Now the increase certification requirements will add to that, not only in the cost of classes but also in the time it takes to complete those classes. US Diving can’t even tell who these part timers are because all membership is purchased for a full year. How can US Diving help them when it doesn’t even know who these people are?

         The grass root programs being referred to are not the ones making tens of thousands of dollars per year. These programs are small and may generate $200 to $300 for that season because they only have 10 or less kids involved. Many diving programs like these lose money every year and that’s at the coach’s expense. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that it just isn’t worth that price! This is exactly what’s happening at the grass root level. The additional consequence is that as those coaches disappear so do the potential number of divers. Will the upcoming Olympic Games help increase diving numbers? The answer is twofold. It should but if there is no coach at the local pool, the answer is probably not.
 
 
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